Fisheries

We have created a map indicating the Total Allowable Catches (TACs) for toothfish fisheries in the 2015/16 season. Most of these toothfish TACs were set by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), following internationally peer reviewed science at the 2014 CCAMLR meeting last October in Hobart. TACs set for Chile, Argentina, Falkland Islands, Marion Island (South Africa) and Macquarie Island (Australia) were set by national authorities of those countries.

The toothfish catches indicated in this map represent around 92% of the worldwide catch of toothfish. If you source toothfish from any of these fisheries, with a certified catch document, you will know you are receiving legal, sustainably caught toothfish.

The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources applies to the Antarctic marine living resources of the area south of 60º South, and in some areas extends out to the Antarctic Convergence (approximately 45ºS), to areas forming part of the Antarctic marine ecosystem.

The CCAMLR Convention Area is divided into statistical areas, subareas and divisions, aiming to keep discrete biological populations within the same area. The three statistical areas are: Area 48 (Atlantic Ocean sector), Area 58 (Indian Ocean sector) and Area 88 (Pacific Ocean sector).

Commercial fishing of Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish is managed by CCAMLR around most of the sub-Antarctic and Antarctic regions, however the fisheries that lie within a nation’s Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) are managed by those nations, taking into account management recommendations and approaches by CCAMLR.